Wichita Standard

WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons exploded for a combined 34 runs in pummeling the Southwestern College Lady Builders by scores of 19-2 and 15-6 in the KCAC opening series for both teams today (Mar. 20) at Two Rivers Youth Complex.

The 19 runs are the most in a game for the Falcons since 2015 (21-6 over Stephens College), with the five home runs hit tied for the most in the Dakstats/Presto modern statistical era (2011).

"I thought our offense did a great job adjusting to the speed changes of the pitchers and were patient at the plate, waiting for the right pitch to swing hard at," said Friends softball head coach Suzanne Unruh. "It's such a wonderful feeling as their coach knowing that at any time in our lineup we can hit one out!"

The Falcons got the bats going immediately when Becca Dunn (SO/Jurupa Valley, Calif. ) hit a long single to right field that cleared the bases in the bottom of the first of the opening tilt.

The homer barrage followed shortly after, with Makenna Mitchell (SR/Orange County, Calif. ) launching her first home run of the season, a two-run blast to cap the Falcons' five-run first inning.

Friends only piled on from there, as an RBI single by Aleigha Gale (JR/Winfield, Kan. ) and a run-scoring double by Laila Spracklen (SR/San Diego, Calif. ) preceded a two-run homer by Carolyn Dallimore (SR/Patterson, Calif. ) to finish a four-run second frame.

The fourth inning in particular saw the Falcons flex their muscle, with Ally Sparks (FR/Tonganoxie, Kan. ) homering in her first career at-bat while Spracklen and Priscilla Mora (SO/Beaumont, Calif. ) also went deep to make it 18-1.

The spectacular offensive output was finished with an RBI single by Mitchell later in the fourth.

Spracklen powered the Falcons' offensive juggernaut with a career-high four hits along with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Mitchell also matched her career-best output by going 3-of-4 with three runs driven in. Dunn and Vanessa Sigala (JR/Carson, Calif. ) each had two hits for the Falcons.

Spracklen struck out six and gave up one run with two walks in recording her seventh victory of the season.

A leadoff homer by Isabel Lytle in the nightcap and an RBI single from Rayven Favors in the second inning helped the Lady Builders take a 3-1 lead, but that just seemed to awaken the Falcon offense.

The Falcons proceeded to score seven runs in each of the next two innings, highlighted by a two-run homer by Mora, a three-run blast from Spracklen and a solo homer by Dallimore.  Dallimore's second homer of the day was her eighth of the season, already equaling her career-high mark.

Marshall hit a two-run single in the second inning to begin the onslaught, with Mitchell putting an exclamation point on the outburst with an RBI single to close out the scoring in the third.

It was Dallimore's turn to produce a career performance by tying her career-high output with a 4-of-4 effort at the plate along with three RBIs.

Spracklen drove in four more runs, while Marshall had three RBIs. Mitchell and Mora had three hits apiece for Friends (14-6, 2-0 KCAC).

The Lady Builders (1-14, 0-2 KCAC) got two hits each from Favors and Hannah Hlavenka.

Isabelle Schwien (JR/Denver, Colo. ) started and went four innings, allowing two earned runs with one strikeout to get the win for the Falcons.

Friends will now prep for KCAC front-runner (RV) Oklahoma Wesleyan, set for Wednesday afternoon (Mar. 22) at 3 pm at Two Rivers Youth Complex.

Original source can be found here